Kent State’s women’s golf team finished in third place out of 11 teams at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. The tournament took place on Rio Mar Country Club’s Ocean Course in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Monday and Tuesday.

The Flashes finished the tournament as a team at +45, 15 strokes off of Arkansas’ winning score of +30

The Flashes had three players finish in the top 15: Pimnipa Panthong, Michaela Finn and Karoline Stormo.

Panthong, one of two players to card an eagle in the tournament, tied for fifth overall with Dylan Kim of Arkansas at +8.

Kent State coach Greg Robertson said that although Panthong had a double bogey on the first day, “she kept moving up.”

“Overall, I think I saw a lot of good things,” Robertson said, “It was good competition, and the team played well.”

Finn (+11) tied for ninth place with Annika Clark (TCU), Dorthea Forbrigd (East Carolina) and India Clyburn (North Carolina State).

Stormo tied for 13th with a score of +13 with Purdue’s Inez Wanamarta (Purdue) and TCU’s Yeji Shin.  

“These two were definitely resilient in the tournament,” Robertson said. “Stormo had a good finish in her final round.”

Chloe Salort, playing in her first tournament since being named the Mid-American Conference golfer of the week for her 3-0 performance at last week’s Mid-American Match Play Challenge, finished in 25th place with a score of +16.

The Flashes struggled early on but were able to keep up with Arkansas, the No. 4 team in the country. Robertson said the team was able to stay competitive and finished their rounds strongly.

The Flashes had to battle through tough weather conditions throughout the tournament. Robertson said the high winds lead to some high numbers, but his team needs to improve on “how to hit different shots in windy conditions.”

The rankings didn’t change much after the second round. After the tournament’s first day, Kent State was still in third place, trailing behind Arkansas and Iowa State.

Throughout the tournament, the team played against three schools ranked in the top 20. They battled it out against Colorado-Boulder and Purdue, two schools that had previously been ranked higher than the Flashes.

Seven of the tournament’s 11 universities were listed in the NCAA’s Division I rankings.

After the tournament, the coaches met with the players to evaluate how they played and determined some areas to improve on moving forward were short game and wedge play.

The Flashes look to continue their success as they go on to The Dickson, where they finished second last year. Their next match is Feb. 26 at The Woodlands Country Club in The Woodlands, Texas. The tournament is hosted by the University of Houston.

Amanda Levine is a sports reporter. Contact her at [email protected].